The nest just got fuller

Headed to Kingston today with the SUV to pick up Alex and the stuff he’s collected over 4 years at Queens. Luckily, he had no furniture that needed to come home today, but he still managed to fill all the cargo space with bags and boxes, lamps and computer equipment. He left a few things there to bring back next week when he’s there for a couple of days of work.

We had Dim Sum for lunch at a new resto on Princess Street and his housemate Jerry joined us. He’d helped out with loading the stuff and is a friendly, interesting guy with a good sense of humour.

The so-called ghetto looked pretty bad today, with trash all over various yards, furniture strewn on lawns, and porches piled high with stuff coming in or going out of the houses. I feel sorry for “regular” residents of the city, and by that I mean non-students, who have to put up with this unsightly mess. It’s the end of the regular school year as well as garbage night, so it’s pretty crazy.

I could be looking at the past through rose-colored glasses, but I have no recollection of this kind of behavior back in the early 80s when I lived there. First, I don’t think many of us had that much stuff. We sold, donated, or gave away things we no longer wanted. We bagged what little trash we generated. The disrespect shown for the city and other residents is appalling.

It’s great to have Alex here for the summer. He’s starting his graduate program next month and is looking for work that will permit him to move out on his own. The four of us had dinner together and discussed possibilities for a summer vacation together. My boys are now 21 and 18, men really. It’s stunning to live together and realize that we produced them.

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At my other blog: Berkman Family History

In this blog, I’ve talked about the origins of my Berkman family and a little bit about my most immediate ancestor, my father. I also looked at information about one of the family’s journey to the US. But there is a whole lot of uncertainty around most of the Berkman emigrants to North America. Some […]

The last two children born to my great-great grandfather, Hirsh Berkman, and his wife Sore, died as toddlers of croup. This was identified in death records from the Lithuanian town where they lived. Aharon Nate died at a-year-and-a-half in 1882, and daughter Teme Leye died at two-and-a-half years in 1886. This had me looking for some […]

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